Even if you are not a football fan, the Super Bowl is an event you do not want to miss. As the most watched televised event, sometimes the best part of watching the game, are the commercials. Companies spend millions of dollars to air a 30 second commercial during this prime time event. It is their once chance to get in front of over 100 million viewers at once (wouldn’t you love to expose your business to that many people) and make a lasting impression.
As viewers, we look forward to seeing what these companies come up with for their 30 second on air advertisements. This year, there was definitely a movement toward MOBILE. If you didn’t catch all the action, we have recapped it below.
1.) GoDaddy used QR code – In the second commercial for GoDaddy, there was a QR code to scan in the bottom left hand corner displayed throughout the commercial. If you had enough time to hop off your couch and scan the QR code, you would have been taken to the GoDaddy website where you can purchase domains etc.
The problem with this: When you have a QR code placed within a television ad, viewers have to take time to get up and scan the code. This fails for two basic reasons: It is an inconvenience and viewers lose focus on the commercial and what it is telling them.
2.) NFL uses Text Message Marketing -The NFL itself didn’t miss out on the mobile marketing party either. It promoted its new NFL fantasy football game. If you text NFL to 69635, fans could win $1 million in the new fantasy football game. The NFL intends to reach out to its text message opt-ins in late summer 2012 to encourage them to use the new fantasy football website. The NFL was smart in doing this as it recognizes that 19 million Americans play fantasy sports and it can’t afford to miss out on this burgeoning market.
The problem with this: If you watched this commercial, I guarantee you did not remember the number you were supposed to text into. If you didn’t have your phone right next to you when the “Call to Action” popped up on the screen, chances are you missed your chance to text in because no one is going to look at that number “69635″ and remember it 2 minutes later. Or if you did have your phone right in front of you, by the time you looked up and started typing, the number was gone. NFL should have made the number easier to remember…. maybe they will use 90210 next time?
InMobi’s Super Bowl survey shows viewers were highly engaged on their mobile devices during the game, proving mobile advertising plays a critical role in an effective Super Bowl advertising strategy.
Highlights:
1. Nearly twice as many respondents used their phone during the first half of the game compared to the second half.
2. 39% used their mobile devices in response to watching a commercial during the game to:
- Look up product information
- Re-watch a commercial
- Discuss and comment on commercials
3. 30% said they used their mobile devices the most during commercials
4. 45% estimated time spent during the game at 30 minutes or more
Lessons learned:
- The Super Bowl may be TV’s biggest advertising event of the year in the U.S., but mobile is truly a force to be reckoned with.
- If you are trying to engage with mobile users, do so during the first half of the game.
- Super Bowl viewers use their phones during the game, and spend a significant amount of time doing so.






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